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A scramble to finish wedding plans

With two days left before the wedding, the Bates family still had much to do to prepare.

Michaella (Bates) Keilen, who traveled from Chicago for the wedding, had to sew slips into the flower girl dresses. The Bates boys had to finish painting trees white to complete the winter wonderland theme for the wedding.

"We had planned the whole wedding theme around these trees," said Kelly Jo Bates. "That's the look that me and Tori both were most excited about, that magical winter, white trees lining the aisles."

The trees stood at different points in the aisles and had purple ornaments. The church's stage had a white lamp post and gifts wrapped with purple ribbon.

"Tori is staying away all day today," said Kelly Jo. "She's not going to see this until she comes for the rehearsal dinner, so I'm just getting excited knowing how surprised and thrilled she's going to be when she sees it because every little step we take is making it more special for her."

Tori and Bobby said the church's sanctuary looked beautiful when they saw it for the first time during the rehearsal.

The rehearsal proved to be a bit chaotic because Tori had the biggest wedding party in a Bates wedding so far with 10 bridesmaids.

"When I was thinking about what to say about Tori, I was thinking she is really the life of the party. If she walks in a room, she just steals the show. We did a lot together. She always played the violin with me," said Erin. "I remember one particular time. We had played Christmas music at a nursing home, and we were just talking about how much we love each other and are really grateful for each other, and we made this commitment, kind of a truce together, and said, 'You know what, we shouldn't ever get married because if we get married, this will really separate us.' I'm not really sure what happened to that truce we made ... I'm so grateful for Bobby and for the marriage you're going to have together. I think they're a perfect match, and I'm going to miss her."

Carlin, who's courting Evan Stewart, joked about wanting to be the one getting married instead of Tori, and then she got serious.

"How does anyone put into words someone that means so much to you in so many ways? I could not imagine life without her," said Carlin. "God knew that I needed someone like that to push me closer to him in so many ways. I'm super happy for them, and I love you both."

Gil shed tears as he spoke to Tori and Bobby.

"Bobby, to you, I can't think of anybody I'd be happier to hand off my daughter Tori," said Gil. "I thank the Lord for how you've carried yourself as a gentleman. I just enjoyed everything about getting to know you and your family, and I'm looking forward to lots of years together. All of us growing, and I can't talk about Tori 'cause I've got to give her away tomorrow."

Tori Bates on her wedding day at Knoxville's Calvary Baptist Church.(Photo: Courtesy of UPtv)

A winter wonderland ceremony

On the day of the wedding, the Bates family provided their talents before and during the event.

"When I started planning for my wedding, I became really grateful honestly for Dad and Mom having so many kids because there's talent in every area that you need. It's siblings. It's sweet. It's special, and you can tell them what you really think and what you really want, and they don't charge a lot of money for it. I actually, I didn't pay them," said Tori, laughing.

Once the ceremony began, "Bringing Up Bates" offered insight on how Tori and Bobby felt the moment they first saw each other at the ceremony through confessionals.

"When the music started and they opened the doors, I honestly did not know what to think," said Tori. "I didn't know whether to cry or to like run down the aisle or be excited or what, but I'm just like the whole time 'Don't cry. Just look at Bobby. Don't look at anybody else 'cause you'll get scared.' "

"It literally felt like the entire world just stopped," said Bobby. "The crowd of groomsmen and bridesmaids behind me, it's like they weren't there, and there she is, the girl I'm going to spend the rest of my life with, coming down to marry me."

Their ceremony featured prayer, a unity braid, performances from Bobby and Lawson Bates, who both wrote songs for the wedding, and vows.

Tori and Bobby's first kiss

Tori and Bobby's wedding was the first time the couple, who's been together for a couple of years, shared a kiss.

"Slow and sweet is all it needs to be," said Tori, talking about the wedding kiss. "You have all the time in the world after you're married, so just make it simple, slow and sweet for the wedding day."

"When I look back at our wedding day, I wouldn't change anything about it. I couldn't have done any of it without my family," said Tori. "And it was absolutely beautiful. Everything about it was so perfect, and all of the people who we love and care about were there. And at the end of the day, we got married, and it was just beautiful."

The next Bates wedding?

"It seems like as soon as we recover from one wedding, another daughter is announcing a wedding day. We're happy for Tori. We're happy for the future of our other girls, but we are praying it'll slow down," said Kelly Jo.